Walking

It's been an acceptable day in Streeterville, 30 degrees at the Mini under partly cloudy skies. The views from the 14th floor were okay when I arrived home from the outpost. The afternoon sun was causing those shadows of the high rises on the ice on Lake Michigan. Yes I did say that, "on the ice on Lake Michigan." Still hasn't warmed up enough to melt it away. There was no biting wind in my face when I walked to the gym about 5 PM though, and the sun was still up. Prepare yourself for longer days. Daylight Savings Time starts next Sunday.

Yesterday, I mentioned, in passing, people who drive everywhere and never walk. I've given this some thought and I strongly suspect that people such as myself who do a great deal of walking are quite in the minority. America is not built for it. Most people are almost required to drive everywhere.

So who walks anyway? People who live in rural areas most certainly do not walk, except for a few odd ducks here and there. There are large amounts of space in between anywhere you have to go, and that means getting in the vehicle and driving there. Walk just to be walking? For recreation? That would mean that people would have to abandon the big flat screen TV with 100 + channels, and for what? There are most certainly some rural areas that are lovely and worth a walk through. Most, though are full of corn fields, wheat fields, pastures for cattle grazing, stinky old pig farms, and various assorted crop lands. Not scenic variety walking territory.

Now according to the Census Bureau, most Americans live in urban areas and with urban areas you think sidewalks and you might think that some serious walking might be going on. When you examine what the census bureau means by an urban area, though, you discover that the majority of Americans live in suburban areas and small cities. Less than 3 million of us actually live in Chicago. Over 5 million people live in the suburbs of Chicago. Almost all of these suburbs and small cities are built around freeways, bypasses, and big honking shopping malls with immense parking lots. People don't walk. They drive, and the bigger the vehicle the better. If you try walking anywhere you risk being run down by someone in a Hummer on their way to the mall in a hurry who just didn't see you. Biking? Strap your bike to the back of the car and drive to the nearest state or national park with biking paths.

Now mind you there are a great many of us who actually live in major cities, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, etc., etc., etc. You might think there is a lot of walking going on in these places. In some of these places there is some walking going on, in the older style cities, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago. The others are a bunch of overgrown suburbs that outgrew their suburbanness and they, like the suburbs are built around freeways and shopping malls with big parking lots. The second largest city in the U.S. is Los Angeles and it is a drivers' city. No car. No status. No functioning. I heard a rumor that they built a subway system there, but no one wants to ride it. How declasse. I remember living in Austin, Texas for a short while and not having a car. When some redneck Texan found out I had been riding the bus they remarked, "You rode the bus? Nobody rides the bus but Mexicans." If it had been a redneck in St. Louis, no doubt the remark would have said the same, only instead of Mexicans it would have been n----s.

What I am saying is that in most American cities, it is not only necessary to drive most places, it is a matter of status of class to be seen driving in your car. No one rides the bus or the train but poor people, of whatever race or ethnicity. With that in mind I am proud to be a resident of one of the few cities in America where you can actually function without a car if you wish, where you can ride the bus or the El or the train, and no one thinks a thing about it. I walk a lot. I can get to shopping, restaurants, or entertainment without getting in a car and driving. There is a vibrant life on the streets of my city. People walk to do things.

It is crowded. There are people of every possible ethnicity, religious belief, and sexual inclination. We all learn how to get along. We all share the streets and sidewalks. We sit in cafes with sidewalk seating. We watch as others walk by. We go out and walk our dogs. We go for walks after work. We walk to get some coffee and a pastry. We walk to have breakfast on the weekends. We go to the parks and walk just to enjoy the scenery and the sun. You see so much more when you walk than you ever do when you are buzzing by in your car. You notice things. You stop. You look. You go in little shops and peruse. You say hello to your neighbors and sometimes just to the homeless guy on the corner selling Streetwise as you give him a buck.